COLOMBO, Sri Lanka: An air force training aircraft crashed due to engine failure in northern Sri Lanka Thursday, killing the instructor and trainee pilot, the military said.
The two-seater Chinese-built plane crashed inside an air force base in northern Anuradhapura district, said Lt. Col. Upali Rajapakse, a senior official at the defense ministry. The aircraft was old, he said.
Later, the air force confirmed that the cause of the crash was engine failure, the defense ministry Web site reported.
The crash occurred in Sri Lanka's north, where separatist Tamil Tiger rebels have been fighting since 1983 for a separate homeland for the country's 3.1 million ethnic Tamils.
The air force which often pounds rebel-held positions in the island's volatile northeast, plays a vital role in the fight against Tamil rebels. The air force has a fleet of fighter aircraft including Israeli-built Kfir, Russian-made MiGs as well as Chinese-manufactured trainee aircraft.
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